90s kids have fond memories in the episodes of RK Narayan’s Malgudi days, there was one such episode which focused on a local horse sculpture was placed in a public space and a foreigner ends up buying the sculpture for a hefty sum. The episode was a satire on the Indian state of things where people hardly valued the country’s heritage. but time’s have changed. Meet Anuraag Saxena, an activist, author, and founder of India Pride Project (IPP) – a citizen’s group that aims to bring back India’s stolen or pilfered heritage. On his recent visit to Delhi, Saxena shared about the significance of his work, in the backdrop of his memories of Delhi from the 90s. He was pursuing his chartered accountancy in Delhi in the ’90s and would spend a bit of time here at Urgasen ki Baoli.
He would sit there, at that spot, and read a book, and credits the place for aiding him to clear CA in one go. This and Shakuntalam (Theatre) at Pragati Maidan were a few places back then that were peaceful. Otherwise, it’s impossible to find peace in Delhi. Later he moved to the US for further education and is now settled in Singapore. And while he went away from his homeland, the distance brought him closer to his culture in ways more than one. “If you leave India and go visit elsewhere, you can’t help but notice how much pride everyone takes in their heritage. In India, you have buildings which are 600 years old that are lying unattended. That’s our problem — we don’t realize that our heritage is the singular reason for which the world comes to India. They don’t come to see our ring road or malls, they come for our heritage. America has so many Dunkin’ Donuts and in India, you’ll find some or the other heritage location. It could be a fort, mandir, church or a baoli.
And that realization motivated him to start IPP in 2013. So, IPP is a way of reminding people that these spaces and symbols both were an integral part of our life for a good reason, which we have now forgotten,” who has made #BringOurGodsHome and #SaveOurGods popular on social media. In India, the world respects our heritage and we don’t, our ancestor has left our heritage in the most tangible forms. The initiative isn’t just a religious endeavor to bring back idols of Gods. Foreign national associate India with some sort of heritage; so this is symbolic of our pride. Also, it’s a matter of pride for the nation that we are now in a geopolitical position of strength where we are now able to fight or negotiate with the Western developed countries to bring back what is ours. And, at some level, it’s a matter of pride for indigenous communities as well to see their gods come back home
